Chandler Nature Center — Attraction in Chandler

This is a very well loved and used park. The trails go over low hills and around this pond. Everywhere around the pond you could see fishermen enjoying the day. Lots of wildlife can be seen darting about and making noise. I love the sound of frogs singing in the back trails. Picnic Ramada's are big and well spaced out. Water fountains are scattered around. I love the Ramada that tops the hill overlooking the park with free to use binoculars to use to look out over the valley. Only one thing disappointed. The labeled play area. We walked past it several times before we realized that that was it. I guess the knee high cement curvy walls in the Sand pit and positioned rocks were the toddler's play area and the twisty maze like trail through the brush with occasional groupings of rock to sit on were the big kids play area. For someone looking for a classic swing and slide playground I was disappointed. The play area needs better maintenance of the vegetation. If you have a great amount of imagination like my kids do they made t;he best of it and had great natural adventure in this play area. At least there was no trash or graffiti. It is a very clean park.

There are restrooms available in the Environmental center during business hours and another restroom can be located directly across the lake from the play areas which is a bin inconvenient. We had a hard time finding it our first visit. While we where there I saw several different groups of people carrying props for photo shoots. It is a very beautiful desert park. My kids can't wait to go run the...

The center was not open when I came here, however the outside looked so nice and clean. The building looked huge. I was able to explore the outside displays about the solar system. It was pretty cool how they a separate display for each planet on their sanded trail. Each display was very detailed and you could really learn a lot about that planet. They also supposedly had a sundial display but I was unable to find that; wish they had some signage to point visitors to their outside attractions.

= Edit: Called and they are open at 8 am . I got their updated hours at 8 to 7 pm on Thu and Fri 8 to 5 and Sat 8 to 2. Person who answered was very helpful on the phone. I went in to check it out finally. The center is very spacious compared to other nature centers. It has a small gift shop center, area, large clean restrooms, a display with animals, a rock display, a classroom, and racks with plenty of free brochures....

I've been going to Lord Stirling Envi Ed Center occassionally for years and have enjoyed every event. The one I went to last night really impressed me, it was kayaking for beginners and although I was a little nervous because I haven't done it before, the instructors Monica and Chase were great! They took us through all the safety stuff, helped us into kayaks, and personally visited with each of us to ensure we got all the strokes and felt comfortable. In addition to it being a beautiful evening on the pond where you could relax and soak in the nature. What's great about the Center is the wide variety of classes, all excellent, for all different ages. Check out the...